Following a reciprocated series of escalatory attacks, most notably the devastating Ukrainian drone offensive targeting a Russian airbase, delegations from Russia and Ukraine convened in Turkey to deliberate the prospects for a second round of peace negotiations.

During the negotiations, Russia presented a detailed memorandum outlining its preconditions for a ceasefire, stipulating, inter alia, the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the four regions annexed by Russia in 2022; Ukraine's cessation of mobilization efforts and Western arms procurement; the prohibition of third-party military presence on Ukrainian soil; and, further, proposing the lifting of martial law, the holding of elections, a declaration of neutrality, the abandonment of NATO aspirations, limitations on military size, and the officialization of the Russian language, demands previously rejected by both Ukraine and its Western allies.

Amidst the parley, both factions acceded to the repatriation of 6,000 fallen combatants and undertook the establishment of a commission tasked with facilitating the exchange of severely wounded personnel, a deliberation precipitated by Ukraine's intricate and unprecedented drone incursions into Russian territory, a campaign meticulously planned over eighteen months, culminating in the attrition or obliteration of upwards of forty aircraft at a strategically pivotal airbase deep within the Russian Federation.